Throughout much of the
semester, students individually investigate a biological topic of
interest to them, and then apply their knowledge by writing a
convincing and knowledgeable letter to a decision maker. Who
receives the letter depends upon the issue, but common choices are
local or regional elected officials, government agency
representatives, an advocacy organization such as the American
Cancer Society or Sierra Club, or a private organization such a
Procter and Gamble or Exxon Oil Co.

The assignment has three
parts. First they gather the information and compile it into a
draft report that addresses the biological topic only and does
not include personal opinion or recommendations for action. As
a class we attend a library orientation in which the reference
librarian focuses specifically on this project, so they have
knowledge of the library and its resources. They receive feedback
from fellow students and from me on their report draft, then they
revise the draft to produce a final report. Finally, based on the
expertise developed while producing the report, they craft a
persuasive letter. The letter provides a reasoned and accurate
explanation of the biology involved and includes their personal
position and specific recommendation(s) for action. A response to
their letter is requested.

When students turn in a
copy for me to grade, they also turn in a signed original in an
addressed envelope. I tell them that it will be mailed, but when I
return the graded letter, I leave the stack of envelopes on my desk
and announce that if they do not want it mailed, just take back
their letter. Seldom do students not want their letter
mailed.

Many students have
reported to me about a received response. Most are simple
acknowledgement letters, but there have been a good number of
students who have contacted me, amazed that they received
substantive responses. One student was invited to attend a
conference, another promised a copy of a soon to be issued report,
and several have been told their comments would be considered in the
development of future reports.

The November/December
issue of the Journal of College Science Teaching landed in my
mail this morning, and it includes an article titled “Civic
Engagement in the Science Classroom”. Letter writing, voting, and
volunteering with civic organizations are identified as ways
students can engage. Margaret Mead is quoted as saying “Never doubt
that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the
world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” Too many student
assignments eventually end up in the student’s trash can. Why not
have them end up as a letter in someone else’s trash can? Or, just
maybe, they end up changing the world.

Assignment Goal:
To do research on one topic of interest in child
development. Compare and contrast textbook findings to research from
a magazine and a journal article.

Topic Choices:

Infants Exposed to Drugs

Brain Development and Stimulation

The Quality of Child Care

Effects of Television Watching

Child Abuse

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Teen Sexual Activity/Pregnancy

Adolescent Drug Use

Directions:
Choose one of the topics. Read the section in the textbook that
relates to this topic. Next, visit the library and research the same
topic in the periodical databases. Find one a professional journal
article and one magazine article on your topic. These articles
should be no older than 5 years.

Your paper will have seven sections-

Summary of the textbook section

Summary of the popular magazine article

Summary of the professional journal article (Summaries
should include the main idea and quote facts and examples.)

Paragraph telling what information and point of view is the
same in all three sources

Paragraph telling what information and point of view is
different between all three sources

Conclusion paragraph, include your opinion

Works cited page - APA format

Be thorough, presenting information in depth, supported by quotes
or examples. Present the sections in the order they are listed. Make
sure your paper is free from spelling and typing errors.

Format:
This paper must be typed in a font size similar to this
one, double spaced, with one inch margins. The body of the paper
should be 2-3 pages long, and stapled together. No late papers will
be accepted.

A Developmental Writing instructor came to me with this
assignment. This would arguably only be good for introductory students, although
I wonder.

- Students are given a topic or topics to do free writing about in class. We
used a lot of the typical suspects (gun control, legalization of marijuana,
etc.) because we wanted ones the students would probably have thought about.
They were to take a stand on the issue.

- The next step was to revise the paper incorporating research to back up
their stance. The instructor asked me to put together a packaged set of research
on each topic. I countered that they would learn no research skills. He said
that's true but they aren't capable of doing that well enough yet to get good
stuff. So I put together packets on reserve that had the sort of stuff we tell
them they should be using: background, stats, mix of opinions, etc.

- The students were much more motivated to think about the research since
they had already taken a stand. It seemed to decrease the tendency to just take
the first sources they came across and use them.

- Since there was no way the packets would match everyone's views, they asked
if it was OK to find other stuff on their own. Then they asked if it was OK to
change their stance after they researched it.

That's when I was sold.

Red Wassenich
Austin Community College
Austin, TX

Thank you Red Wassenich
for sharing this assignment on a discussion listserve.

College CompositionResearch Paper:
Language and Rhetoric of an American Social Movement

Assignment: Write a research paper that analyzes
primary texts from an American social movement that organized to achieve some
social change. The focus of your paper should be to analyze primary sources from
the movement and make an argument about these sources and their relevance to the
movement. Your paper should also provide adequate background to understand these
sources, so be sure to include social, cultural and historical contexts that are
relevant to your focus. Your paper should identify an appropriate focus and
attempt to persuade the reader to your point of view.

The paper needs to analyze its primary sources and argue

your position. You are free to choose the focus of your research paper, but
choose carefully: you MUST be able to do research on this topic in the library.
Further, this assignment does NOT ask for a simple historical report but asks
you to analyze your topic, to focus on some aspect of the social movement you
select and explain its significance to an audience who will have little
knowledge of the issues.

Annotated Bibliography: To help pace and organize
your research, you are required to submit an annotated bibliography the day that
you give your research presentation. The annotated bibliography is simply a list
of sources that you have consulted with a quick summary of its usefulness,
relevance (or irrelevance) to your project; you will not necessarily use all of
the sources in your annotated bibliography for your final paper. (over for
sample)

You should plan to include at least fifteen references in
your annotated bibliography. The sources can include full-length books, articles
from periodicals and journals, newspapers, and internet sites—sources you can
use to establish the social, historic, and cultural contexts that will provide
information about your focus. You must include at least ten non-internet sites
(such as scholarly journals or books) in your annotated bibliography. Also, must
include at least two primary sources which should provide the most
important material for analysis in your paper; the rest may be secondary
sources. This shouldn't be difficult if you spend time with the research
librarian.

MLA format requirement: Make sure that you cite your
sources, using MLA-style citations, and that you include a works-cited page for
your paper. Your works cited must contain at least ten items, including
scholarly sources and at least two must be primary sources; the rest may be
secondary sources.

Length: Your finished text should be at least eight
full pages (2,000 words), not including the works cited page.

Here are some ideas for social movements that you may be
interested in researching. However, this list is not exhaustive, so you may
choose another movement not on the list. If you do want to choose a topic that
does not appear on this list, please talk to me ahead of time to make sure it is
acceptable for this assignment.

**Please note: no papers on abortion or gun ownership: I want this to be a
creative and explorative research paper based on new critical analysis on your
part, not a regurgitation of a high school debate class.

Sample Entries from Annotated Bibliography

Cawardine, William H. The Pullman Strike. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr and
Company, 1973. This book is my first primary source because it was written by
Reverend William H. Cawardine, who was the Reverend of Pullman City at the time
of the Pullman Strike. William wrote this book as the Pullman Strike was coming
to an end and he gave a sense of feeling to his audience reading his book. This
also contained many facts that internet sites and other books don’t give because
its one of the few that was written during its time and goes into great detail
of the happening of the strike.

Hirsch, Susan E. After the Strike: A Century of Labor Struggle at Pullman.
Chicago, University of Illinois Press, 2003. This source gave me an idea of
what happened after the strike. It explained clearly what when this matter was
taken to the courts, the workers of the Pullman Company obtained equal and fair
wages. The book also talked about contemporary labor problems and how we are
affected by the events of the Pullman Strike as it has been used as precedence
in many court cases.

College Composition Assignment Part II - Research Presentation
Instructions

In preparation for your research paper on an American
social movement, you will do a short, 10-15 minute presentation of your research
to the class. The purpose of this assignment is to give you practice presenting
academic material in an organized, collegiate fashion, and to share your
knowledge of the social movement you have chosen to research along with useful
sources you have found. You may also prepare a short one-page handout for the
class if you think it would be helpful to your presentation. Your research
presentation should include at least the following elements:

-- Define for the class what your social movement is – what
was its cause specifically.

-- Why did you choose this topic? Was there something in
particular that you felt connected to or interested by? How did you first hear
about this movement?

-- Are there many different groups or factions within this
movement, or is it relatively cohesive group?

--What are primary texts from the movement that you will be
analyzing?

Select a well known, classic novel that is at least fifty years
old. Review the criticism available and identify what the critics
were saying about the work over the years. How did the perspective
change? What were the social issues that had an impact on the
criticism? What were the qualities of the book that made it endure
over the years? (What makes it a classic?)

So far this semester, you have expanded your
sense of community by looking critically at your place in college as
well as within a consumer-driven economy. In this unit, you
investigate the world around, focusing on the political sphere and
specifically political language. We are surrounded by persuasive
language—propaganda—meant to make us feel, believe, and act in
certain ways. As the election looms, the rhetoric intensifies and
it can be difficult to sort the fact from the fiction, and the
issues from the emotions.

Your Task

Choose a political speech given to the people
of the United States* and argue the ways in which the speaker
attempts to manipulate or influence his or her audience and why.
Using the library as a main source of information, research the
context of the speech as well as views on the speech. Using the
articles on rhetorical techniques, analyze the speech, looking at
what issues are addressed and how the speaker addresses them. In
your five to seven page essay, analyze your findings to argue why
the speaker would take such an approach.

Note: Your audience is knowledgeable, but also
would like to further understand the effect of language, so be sure
to explain the rhetorical techniques as you understand them and cite
the appropriate authors.

Minimum
Requirements - Your essay will need:

A controlling thesis statement: a clear, direct statement of the
point of your essay.

Focused sentences and paragraphs.

An organized presentation of your
ideas.

Recognition of alternate points of
view.

Thorough development and explanation of your ideas (Remember:
specific examples can help you here. Don’t be afraid to give your
reader plenty of supportive information.).

Sentence structures discussed in
previous units and this unit—adjective clauses and punctuating
quotes.

Cite at least eight sources:

I want you to make use of the library, and therefore, I will
only accept no more than two (2) sources from the internet
(excluding library database sources).

You must make use of journals and magazines as well as books,
with significantly more sources coming from journals and books
than magazines.

The texts handed in class count towards the minimum of 8 only if
used.

Proper citation of your sources using MLA documentation style with a
Works Cited page.

At least five full pages, well-proofread, and formatted as described
in the workbook.

Due Dates:Rough draft: ________ Final paper: _______

*Choose ONE of the speeches from the list
provided or you may choose another speech, if you like, but please
clear it with me first before begin your research and turn in a copy
of the speech in your essay packet.